School Board Picks Business Manager

West Haven Schools Finance Director Chosen To Take Over Full-time Duties

June 22, 2007|By CHARLES STANNARD; Courant Staff Writer

Garth Sawyer, the finance director for the West Haven school system, has been hired as Regional District 4's new business manager.

Sawyer, a 33-year-old North Branford resident, is the permanent replacement for Steve Spires, an Ivoryton resident who retired in January after a dozen years in the business manager position. Over the past six months, Gary Miller, a former business manager for the Canton school system, has been serving as interim business manager on a part-time basis. Miller has been assisted in his review of district finances by Richard Mahoney, a former finance director for the city of New London.

Superintendent of Schools Kim Caron said a search committee consisting of school board members, administrators and representatives from the town finance boards reviewed about 15 applicants for the position. They forwarded five candidates to an interview committee composed of representatives from the Chester, Deep River and Essex school boards and the Region 4 Board of Education. Two finalists were interviewed by a smaller interview committee that included Caron, Assistant Superintendent Ruth Levy, Director of Pupil Services Kathleen Onofrio, Supervision District Committee Chairwoman Mary Louis Pollo and Region 4 board member Richard Strauss.

Sawyer has worked for the West Haven school system for nearly eight years, beginning in 1999 as accounting manager and as finance director since 2002. He holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from Bryant College in Rhode Island and is state-certified as a school business manager.

``Mr. Sawyer comes to us with successful experience as a school business manager, a solid understanding of the use of technology in fiscal management and prior experience as an auditor,'' Caron said. ``It is evident that he possesses all of the technical skills required to excel as the business manager, as well as demonstrating a high degree of integrity.''

Caron said the role of a business manager in a regional school system is to ``build trust and confidence in fiscal operations, focus financial resources on the goals of the region and provide constituents with accurate financial reporting.''

Sawyer will begin his new duties on July 1. Caron said Miller and Mahoney would continue working part-time for several weeks into the new fiscal year, which begins July 1, to ensure a smooth transition.